9
His firm is based in the other Hemisphere.
8
He calls you “Tim”, repeatedly (and your name is NOT Tim).
7
He’s not concerned with meeting you before sending you to the client.
6
He keeps calling it ‘C+’.
5
He asks how soon you can start… before talking about your skills.
4
Every week you get the same email from him about a position in New Jersey that would be a great fit for your ATG Commerce experience.
3
He thinks you’d be a great fit for the company that just let you go.
2
It’s that J2EE-Software-Engineer-with-Financial-experience-able-to-work-in-high-pressure-situations-in-Charlotte job for the 4th time this year. (Really… 400% turnover? Come on!)
1
He leaves a voicemail in which he tells you about a job in CHAR-OH-LA-TAY, North Carolina.
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He gets your resume for a position he knows about in XYZ company, he also claims he knows the senior Executives there, and you never hear back from him, inspite of several follow ups.
Yes is this See-ain Mii-ra? I have a position for you in Coroado, when can you start Mr. Miira?
I get that all the time, and my first reply is how much does it pay, can you buy my house, and whats the moving bonus? The next line is… no I’m not interested in a 6 month contract.
…and he/she is asking your references including the manager’s contact info (!) before submitting your resume.
The recruiter tells you that you have been submitted for a job and doesn’t bother to call you with any updates. Then when you find what seems to be the perfect job description, you find out from this new recruiter they can’t submit you. Then you call the first recruiter who then waffles and said that he thinks you were submitted for the position. A lose-lose for all involved …. and just plain lame!
The fact of the matter is, with the exception of very far less than 1%, they are all effectively useless. ‘Screening’ today is a matter of a program checking keywords, not an actual person reading, analyzing and making a determination. Therefore, there really is very little if any added value for recruiters as their business model never changed despite the rise of company web sites, job boards, etc. that can and do replace recruiters. Recruiters don’t assist in polishing resumes, don’t test a candidates skills in any way for independent verification, don’t help a candidate learn about the company, don’t assist a candidate in interviewing skills, don’t do background or reference checks, etc. Companies know all this which is why they very rarely have exclusive contracts with a given agency. Less than 4% of jobs go through recruiters, regardless of level and that is a number that is dropping rapidly. Althopugh recruiters are human sellers, they rarely have the slightest rudimentary concept of sales and the true and only client and loyalty, is to the company, never the individual.
This is not a sin: He’s not concerned with meeting you before sending you to the client.
I never want to meet a recruiter in person. It’s *always* a waste of time.